Basket having improved sidewall structure

ABSTRACT

A basket for holding goods comprises a base, a flange, and a sidewall extending from the base to the flange, the sidewall including a plurality of faces. Any two of the faces is joined by a structure having an arcuate shape curving into the basket, the arcuate shape extending from the base to the flange. The arcuate shape provides rigidity to the sidewall, protecting goods within the basket.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to the following U.S. Provisional Patent Application:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/868,911, entitled “Basket Having Improved Sidewall Structure,” Attorney Docket No. PPLUS-01000US0, filed Dec. 6, 2006.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to packaging, and more particularly to packaging for fragile and/or perishable goods.

BACKGROUND

Plastic berry baskets are ubiquitous in grocery stores and produce markets and can be found by consumers in a variety of shapes and sizes. For example, raspberries and blackberries and the like are sold in clear polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) clamshell containers holding anywhere from a half-pint to a quart or more of fruit. Despite availability in myriad shapes and sizes, such plastic berry baskets commonly incorporate strengthening structures along the faces of the sidewalls to provide rigidity for protecting the basket from collapse when stacked. This can be particularly important where the contents are easily damaged, such as the case with produce.

Unfortunately, strengthening structures increase manufacturing costs by increasing a total surface area of the basket (and consequently increasing the amount of plastic used to make the basket). Further, the additional edges of such structures are known to damage fruit. There is a need for baskets that can be produced at less cost while reducing damage occurring to produce while in the basket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an embodiment of a basket in accordance with methods and systems for holding goods in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 1B is a cross-section of a corner of the basket of FIG. 1A having an arcuate shape.

FIG. 2: FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a basket in accordance with methods and systems for holding goods in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 2B is a cross-section of a corner of the basket of FIG. 2A having an arcuate shape; FIG. 2C is a perspective view of a body of the basket; FIG. 2D is a perspective view of a lid mated with the body of FIG. 2C; FIG. 2E is a cross-section of perspective view of FIG. 2D, showing the body capturing the lid to produce a desirably secure fit between the lid and the body.

FIG. 3: FIG. 3 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of a basket in accordance with methods and systems for holding goods in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, an embodiment of a basket in accordance with the present invention is shown. The basket 100 includes a body 104 defined at least partially by a base 108 and a sidewall 106 extending from the base 108 to a flange 114. The base 108 can be concave, flat, or alternatively can have some other shape relative to a plane on which the basket can rest, depending on a desired contact surface area, a desired flow of air along the base, etc. Optionally the base 108 can include one or more perforations, the one or more perforations permitting drainage, ventilation, ornamentation, or some other purpose. As shown, the base 108 has a substantially rectangular footprint across the plane on which it rests. The sidewall 106 extending from the base 108 consequently has four faces. Alternatively, in other embodiments the footprint of the base 108 can be some other shape, such as square or triangular for example.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the sidewall 106 includes a compound draft from the flange 114 to the base 108. The draft is compound because a portion 112 of the draft connected with the base 108 increases in angle. One or both angles of the compound draft can be varied to suit manufacturing or to selectively adjust a volume of the basket. A sharper draft decreases basket volume, but can aid in manufacturing by easing ejection of the body from a mold. In other embodiments, the sidewall 106 can include a simple draft from the flange to the base. In still other embodiments, the sidewall 106 need not include a draft from the flange to the base, or can include a compound draft including more than two angles. In still further embodiments, one face of the sidewall 106 can include no draft, or a draft having a different angle when compared with that of another face of the sidewall 106. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the myriad different shapes including or excluding drafts with which the sidewall 106 extending from the base 108 to the flange 114 can be formed. Embodiments of baskets in accordance with the present invention are intended to be applied to all such shapes without necessary differentiation.

Baskets in accordance with the prior art commonly incorporate ribs integrally formed within the faces of sidewalk of the basket. Ribs can improve rigidity of the basket to help prevent damage to goods held within, and to resist collapse of the body of the basket. Such baskets can be referred to as semi-smooth-walled baskets. Inclusion of ribs increases an amount of material required to manufacture a basket and further increases a number of contactable edges with which fragile goods such as produce can be damaged. Alternatively, baskets in accordance with the prior art can include smooth sidewalls which are generally featureless. Use of smooth sidewalls reduces the number of contactable edges, but can result in a sidewall having less rigidity (where the sidewall thickness is constant compared with a sidewall having ribs). Such smooth-walled baskets commonly seek to increase sidewall strength by increasing a thickness of the sidewalls. Increasing sidewall thickness likewise results in an increase in an amount of material required to manufacture a basket.

Embodiments of baskets in accordance with the present invention can comprise corners 110, one or more of which has an arcuate shape extending substantially along the length of the corner from the base 108 to the flange 114 of the basket. The arcuate shape of the one or more corners 110 can provide structural strength to faces of the sidewalls 106 connected with the one or more corners 110, resisting and or limiting sidewall 106 collapses that can result in damage to goods held within the basket 100. The arcuate shape of the one or more corners 110 can optionally reduce or eliminate a need for ribs or other reinforcing structures integrally formed with one or more of the faces of the sidewall 106, thereby reducing the resulting surface area of the sidewall 106. A reduction of the amount of surface area of the sidewall 106 can reduce the amount of material used to form the basket 100. Further, embodiment of baskets in accordance with the present invention can include sidewalls 100 having reduced thickness when compared to baskets of the prior art that provide reinforcement through increased sidewall thickness. A reduction in thickness of the faces of the sidewalls 100 can result in a further reduction in materials and cost over such baskets of the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the arcuate shape connects one face of the sidewall 106 to an adjacent face of the sidewall 106, supplanting a corner 110 formed by at an intersection of the faces of the sidewall 106. The arcuate shape of the corner 110 can provide rigidity by providing a structural shape that distributes stress across the arc of the structure. Such a shape eliminates a concentration of stress at a corner 110, thereby improving a response to force applied to the sidewall 106. The arcuate shape of the corner 110 can reduce a cross-sectional area of the body 114, but can result in a reduction in sidewall thickness and/or surface area of one or more faces of the sidewall 106 to reduce an amount of material used to form the body 114. A length and width of the sidewall 106, or alternatively a draft of the sidewall 106 can be increased to accommodate a lost volume attributable to the arcuate shape of the one or more corners 110. The arcuate shape of FIG. 1B further includes no sharp edges, reducing a risk of damage to delicate goods stored in the basket 100. Angles α and β formed by the radii of curvature r1-r3 relative to the intersecting axes of the faces of the sidewalls need not necessarily be the same, thus the arcuate shape need not be symmetrical. In a preferred embodiment, the radii of curvature r1-r3 for the three arcs formed by the arcuate shape are substantially the same. However, in other embodiments, the radii of curvature for the three arcs formed by the arcuate shape need not be the same, or may vary along the length of the corner 110 from the base 108 to the flange 114.

The embodiment of FIG. 1A further includes one or more finger holes 116 arranged along a portion of the flange 114 opposite a hinge with which the basket 100 is connected. The one or more finger holes 116 allow a finger to be positioned between the lid and the flange 114, easing separation of the lid from the body 104. As shown, the flange 114 includes two finger holes 116 arranged symmetrically along a portion of the flange 114 that is opposite of a hinge. The finger holes 114 form a smooth indention within the flange 114, allowing easy insertion of a finger of a consumer. By including the finger holes 116, the lid can be secured to the flange 114 such that a required force to separate the lid from the flange 114 is optionally increased over a basket excluding finger holes. Separation can be accomplished by pushing a finger with increasing diameter into a finger hole 116 or inserting a finger and pulling the lid away from the body 104 while restricting movement of the body 110, rather than grasping both the flange 114 (or body 104) and the lid and applying a pulling force. A consumer that uses a basket of the prior art that lacks such a feature typically grasps both the flange and the lid, one or both of which can be difficult to grasp between fingers and are subject to slippage owing to the low friction nature of plastics with which baskets are formed. Providing one or more finger holes 116 reduces the frictional properties of the material as a measure of the ease of opening the basket. Still further, the basket 100 can include one or more side finger holes 118 arranged along a portion of the flange 114 adjacent to the hinge with which the basket is connected. As above, the one or more side finger holes 118 can ease separation of the body 104 from the lid.

Referring to FIG. 2A, an alternative embodiment of a basket 200 in accordance with the present invention is shown having a body 204 including a perforated base 208 from which a sidewall 206 extends to a flange 214. The sidewall 206 includes a simple draft from the flange 214 to the base 208. The sidewall 206 has four corners 210 connecting four faces of the sidewall 206, each corner 210 having an arcuate shape, the arcuate shape of the corner improving a structural integrity of the sidewall 206 between the base 208 and the flange 214 by allowing stress to be distributed across the arcuate shape of the corner 210. As can be seen, the sidewall 206 further includes two ribs 207 formed in each face of the sidewall 206. The ribs 207 can increase a resistance to collapse of the face on which it is formed. Thus, embodiments of baskets in accordance with the present invention can optionally include ribs or other structural features formed in the base and/or sidewalls of the basket.

As can be seen in FIG. 2B, the arcuate shape of the corner 210 of the basket 200 connects one face of the sidewall 206 to an adjacent face of the sidewall 206, supplanting a corner 210 formed by at an intersection of the faces of the sidewall 206. As above, the arcuate shape of the corner 210 can provide rigidity by providing a structural shape that distributes stress across the arc of the structure. Such a shape eliminates a concentration of stress at a corner 210, thereby improving a response to force applied to the sidewall 106. As shown, angles α and β formed by the radii of curvature R1-R3 relative to the intersecting axes of the faces of the sidewalls The arcuate shape of FIG. 2B includes a first radius of curvature R1 forming an arc extending inward of the basket that is approximately twice the second and third radii of curvature R2,R3.

The basket 200 further includes a single finger hole 216 formed opposite a hinge 230 connected between the body 204 and the lid 202. The basket 200 also includes a finger hole 218 formed in the flange 214 adjacent to the hinge 230. As can be seen in FIGS. 2D and 2E, the lid 202 can include complementary structures 216,219 to partition a required or desired height of the finger hole 216,218 between the flange 214 of the body 204 and the lid 202. In still other embodiments, one or more finger holes can be formed within the lid 202 exclusively, rather than in the flange 214 of the body 204, or partially within the flange 214 of the body 204.

Referring to FIGS. 2C through 2E, embodiments of baskets in accordance with the present invention can further comprise a catch 220 integrally formed with the flange 214 for receiving a complementary structure (also referred to herein as a latch) 240 of the lid 202. The latch 240 of the lid 202 can include a slope so that as the lid 202 is urged toward the flange 214, the latch 240 contacts the catch 220 and is deflected inward so that the latch 240 accommodates the portion 224 of the catch 220 extending toward the lid 202. As the lid 202 approaches a seated position, a spring force of the latch 240 causes the latch 240 to extend back outward so that the latch 240 extends into a keep 226 of the catch 220 when the latch 240 is seated on a rim 228 of the catch 220. To open the basket, the user can apply a force to the catch 220, causing the catch 220 to pivot at a point of connection between the flange 214 and the sidewall 206. The latch 240 is separated from the keep 226, allowing the lid 202 to be pivoted away from the body 204 at the hinge 230.

The embodiment shown includes two catches 220 on corners associated with a face opposite the hinge 230. In other embodiments, a lid need not be connected with the body by a hinge, by alternatively can be completely separatable from the body. In such embodiments, it may be desired that all four corners include a catch 220, to resist undesired movement of the lid relative to the body.

Referring to FIG. 3, a still further embodiment of a basket in accordance with the present invention is shown. The basket 300 has a body 304 that resembles the body 204 of the basket of FIG. 2A, but does not include rib structures arranged along the face of the sidewall 306. As mentioned above, use of arcuate shaped corners 310 that extend from the base 308 to the flange 314. Optionally the base 108 can include one or more perforations, the one or more perforations permitting drainage, ventilation, ornamentation, or some other purpose and can increase a resistance of the sidewall 306 to collapse. Thus, it can be desired that faces of the sidewall 306 be approximately featureless to reduce a number of edges with which sensitive goods can come in contact. The base 308 can include a plurality of perforations 335, the perforations 335 permitting drainage, ventilation, ornamentation, or some other purpose. Further, a plurality of perforations 337 are shown on the lid 302, which is flexibly connected with the body 304 at a hinge 330. In other embodiments, perforations can be included in one or more of the faces of the sidewalls in addition to, or in substitution of perforations in the base and the lid. The basket also includes finger holes 316,318 and a latch 340 and catch 320 feature substantially similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2A.

The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. 

1. A basket for holding goods comprising: a base; a flange; and a sidewall extending from the base to the flange, the sidewall including a plurality of faces; wherein two of the faces are joined by a structure having an arcuate shape curving into the basket, the arcuate shape extending from the base to the flange.
 2. The basket of claim 1, wherein the arcuate shape comprises in series: a first arc connected with a first face and having a first radius of curvature; a second arc having a second radius of curvature; and a third arc connected with a second face and having a third radius of curvature.
 3. The basket of claim 2, wherein the first radius of curvature, the second radius of curvature, and the third radius of curvature are substantially the same.
 4. The basket of claim 2, wherein the first radius of curvature and third radius of curvature are substantially the same.
 5. The basket of claim 1, further comprising a lid.
 6. The basket of claim 5, wherein the lid is connected to the flange by a hinge.
 7. The basket of claim 5, wherein the base and the lid include a plurality of perforations.
 8. The basket of claim 5, further comprising: a catch protruding from the flange and obstructing the lid when the lid is mated with the flange; and a latch associated with the lid and adapted to deflect the catch as the lid is brought toward the flange; wherein when the lid contacts the flange, a spring force of the catch causes the catch to return to an undeflected position capturing the latch.
 9. The basket of claim 8, wherein the sidewall includes four faces and the lid is connected to the flange by a hinge; and further comprising: a first latch at a first position along the flange opposite the hinge; a second latch at a second position along the flange opposite the hinge; a first catch at a first position along the lid opposite the hinge; and a second catch at a second position along the lid opposite the hinge; wherein the first latch is adapted to mate with the first catch; wherein the second latch is adapted to mate with the second catch.
 10. The basket of claim 9, wherein the base and the lid include a plurality of perforations.
 11. The basket of claim 9, wherein each of the faces is connected with an adjacent face by a structure having an arcuate shape.
 12. The basket of claim 1, wherein the plurality of faces are substantially flat.
 13. The basket of claim 5, wherein one of the lid and the flange includes an indentation sufficiently sized to permit receipt of a finger.
 14. The basket of claim 5, wherein the lid and the flange include indentations aligned with one another so that when the lid is seated on the flange, the aligned indentations permit receipt of a finger so that the seated lid can be urged away from the flange.
 15. A basket for produce comprising: a base; a flange; a sidewall extending from the base to the flange, the sidewall including four faces; wherein each of the faces is joined with adjacent faces by a structure having an arcuate shape curving into the basket, the arcuate shape extending from the base to the flange; and a lid connected to the flange by a hinge.
 16. The basket of claim 15, wherein the base and the lid include a plurality of perforations.
 17. The basket of claim 15, further comprising: a catch protruding from the flange and obstructing the lid when the lid is mated with the flange; and a latch associated with the lid and adapted to deflect the catch as the lid is brought toward the flange; wherein when the lid contacts the flange, a spring force of the catch causes the catch to return to an undeflected position capturing the latch.
 18. The basket of claim 15, further comprising: a first latch at a first position along the flange opposite the hinge; a second latch at a second position along the flange opposite the hinge; a first catch at a first position along the lid opposite the hinge; and a second catch at a second position along the lid opposite the hinge; wherein the first latch is adapted to mate with the first catch; wherein the second latch is adapted to mate with the second catch.
 19. The basket of claim 15, wherein one of the lid and the flange includes an indentation sufficiently sized to permit receipt of a finger.
 20. The basket of claim 15, wherein the lid and the flange include indentations aligned with one another so that when the lid is seated on the flange, the aligned indentations permit receipt of a finger so that the seated lid can be urged away from the flange. 